Press Advisory: Wild Horses Already Being Slaughtered for Human Consumption!

April 25, 2005

Press Advisory:

Wild Horses Already Being Slaughtered for Human Consumption

(Washington, DC) - As tragic news of America's wild horses having been sold for slaughter, action is needed more than ever to protect our symbol of the American West. The Society for Animal Protective Legislation, national animal protection organizations and U.S. Representatives will hold a press conference to discuss impending legislation that could save thousands of these animals' lives.

Time: 9:30 a.m.
Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Location: 2322 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC

Participants: Representative Nick Rahall, Representative Ed Whitfield, Representative John Sweeney, Representative John Spratt, Chris Heyde of the Society for Animal Protective Legislation and Nancy Perry of the Humane Society of the United States.

Representatives Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Ed Whitfield (R-KY) introduced H.R. 297 to repeal the devastating rider to the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act that was slipped through Congress last year by Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT). Representatives John E. Sweeney (R-NY), John Spratt (D-SC) and Ed Whitfield reintroduced H.R. 503, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act to stop horse slaughter in the United States and prohibit the export of live horses for the same purpose. Both bills are critical to ensure that no horses are slaughtered in the United States.

Since the passage of the Burns rider to the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, which allows "excess" horses and burros to be sold at auction "without limitation," the Bureau of Land Management has reported instances of horses being sold for slaughter. Just last week, the first reports of wild horses sold under the Burns amendment were killed for overseas consumption reached the American public.

For more information on this press conference and horse slaughter issues, please contact Chris Heyde at (703) 836-4300.

******************************
Christopher J. Heyde
Policy Analyst
Society for Animal Protective Legislation
(A Division of the Animal Welfare Institute)
PO Box 3719
Washington, DC 20027
Tel: (703) 836-4300
Fax: (703) 997-1134
www.saplonline.org